Painter{3 s tool

ABSTRACT

Appainter&#39;&#39;s scraping tool is formed with a handle having a pair of end-located thumb stops for enhanced leverage during the working of a surface. The scraping tool includes a replaceably mounted scraping blade located below the thumb stops and provided with end-located working edges. The tool is conveniently reversible, one thumb stop being engaged by a thumb while the other cooperates to seat against the heel of the hand for firm gripping of the tool.

Elite States aten Hartman [54] PAINTERS TOOL [72] Inventor: Fred Hartman, 8 Harding Ave.,

Stamford, Conn. 06902 [22] Filed: April 29, 1971 21 App1.No.: 138,636

[52] US. Cl ..30/171, 7/l4.1 A, 30/172 [51] Int. Cl. ..E04f 21/28 [58] Field of Search ..30/169, 295, 171, 172, 332, 30/16; 15/105, 236 R, 105.5, 237; 7/1 R, 1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,455,496 12/1948 Kaskovras ..30/16 2,496,280 2/1950 Endicott ..30/172 Sept. 5, 1972 2,593,304 4/1952 Howard ..30/171 X 3,031,704 5/1962 Farchmin ..15/ 105.5 3,568,233 3/1971 Terzian ..l5/105 Primary Examiner-Robert C. Riordon Attorney-Louis Altman [5 7] ABSTRACT Appainters scraping tool is formed with a handle having a pair of end-located thumb stops for enhanced leverage during the working of a surface. The scraping tool includes a replaceably mounted scraping blade located below the thumb stops and provided with endlocated working edges. The tool is conveniently reversible, one thumb stop being engaged by a thumb while the other cooperates to seat against the heel of the hand for firm gripping of the tool.

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENIED EP 5 m2 3.688.401

INVENTOR. 662 Huffman PAINTERS TOOL FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a scraping tool for scraping surfaces, cleaning crevices and the like, in preparation for painting.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a painters scraping tool made in accordance with the invention, a central handle has an upper leverageapplying segment overlying a longitudinal replaceable scraping blade. The replaceable blade has working edges at both ends, one working edge being shaped to a downwardly extending point for scraping of comers or crevices and the like, and the other working edge being formed into a flat scraping edge. The leverage-applying segment is provided with upwardly curved blunt tips opposite the working edges of the replaceable blade. The blunt tips are of sufficient width to form thumb stops advantageously utilizing thumb pressure for leverage while the blade is applied for surface working. The thumb stops further may be used to open containers such as by removing lids from paint cans.

Combination tools in general are well known in the art. Note, for instance US. Pat. No. 3,155,997 to Gallagher and Design Pat. No. Dl70,999 to LaForte. A shortcoming of such prior art tools is their lack of a suitable thumb stop. As a result, such scraping tools are less convenient to use, and cause early tiring of the hand.

An advantageous feature of a scraping tool in accordance with the invention resides in the ease with which a worker can apply the working edges of the tool while employing a high working pressure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a disassembled scraping tool in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the assembled tool shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view in elevation of the tool shown in FIG. 2, with parts sectioned for illustration.

FIG. 4 is a section view of the assembled tool taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the use of a tool in accordance with the invention, for scraping a crevice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIG. 1 a scraping tool is shown formed of a replaceable elongated blade 12, an elongated spacer 14, and an elongated leverage applying segment 16. The spacer 14 may be molded of plastic or machined from a rectangular piece of lightweight metal such as aluminum, and has an I-shaped cross-section. The spacer 14 has oppositely located recessed surfaces 18 and 20 which terminate laterally at longitudinal flanges 22. The walls 18 and 20 are recessed to a depth which allows the scraping blade 12 and the leverage applying segment 16 to fit flush with flanges 22 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The leverage-applying segment 16 and spacer body 14 form a handle which is adapted for manual gripping.

The thickness of the spacer body 14 and thus of the handle is selected to permit manual encirclement (as shown in FIG. 5) for easy manual manipulation of the tool.

The scraping blade 12 is formed of a strong steel strip having a downwardly extending point 24 as a working edge for scraping comers, crevices and the like. The other end of the scraping blade is formed into a straight edge 26 for scraping of flat surfaces. The upper segment 16 is provided with upwardly countersunk holes 31-31. Threaded holes 29-29 are tapped or molded in spacer body 14, and aligned with holes 31-31 and downwardly countersunk holes 35-35 respectively in the lower blade 12, so that machine screws 34-34 and 28-28 can retain the parts of the scraping tool 16 and 12 respectively to spacer 14.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the screws 34-34 and 28-28' are flatheaded and fit flush with the outer surface of members 16 and 12 in the countersunk holes thereof to enable one to grip the scraping tool without encountering sharp obstructing surfaces. The screws 28-28' engage the spacer 14 not only to hold the blade 12 in place, but also to enable one conveniently to replace it.

The leverage-applying segment 16 has an elongated shape with its ends curved upwardly into curved blunt tips 32-32 which are sized to serve as thumb stops. The segment is formed of strong enough material, e.g., aluminum strip stock, to enable a person to apply full leverage against the stops while either working edge of the replaceable blade 12 is used. The thumb stops 32-32' are preferably so spaced from one another that when a thumb is seated against one stop, the other stop engages the edge or heel of the hand as seen in FIG. 5 to enable the user of the tool 10 to apply full leverage. Note that the blade 12 extends sufficiently far beyond the thumb stops 32-32 to locate both the pointed edge 24 and the straight edge 26 in convenient position when either edge is employed for working a surface.

The pointed edge 24 is advantageously employed for cleaning a crevice 40, as illustrated in FIG. 5. Note how the thumb is conveniently seated on the thumb stop 32 while the other thumb stop 32' engages the heel of the hand while the fingers centrally encircle the handle 14, 16 of the tool for firm retention. The thumb stops 32-32' and working edges 24 and 26 are located to enable one to work the tool 10 in a reverse manner with the straight edge 26 being applied to scrape a flat surface.

Since the foregoing description and drawings are merely illustrative, the scope of protection of the invention has been more broadly stated in the following claims; and these should be liberally interpreted so as to obtain the benefit of all equivalents to which the invention is fairly entitled.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A tool adapted for manual working of surfaces; comprising:

an elongated handle having a first thumb stop extending upwardly from one end. of the handle to receive the thumb for application of pressure, a second thumb stop extending upwardly from the other end of the handle, and a scraping blade located below the handle, said scraping blade having a pair of end-located working edges generally located respectively below the thumb stops for enhanced hand-applied working pressure.

2. The tool of claim 1 wherein said handle includes a leverage-applying segment of thin strong metal strip material, said thumb stops being formed of blunt upwardly curved ends of the metal strip.

3. The tool of claim 2 wherein the handle further includes a spacer body located between the leverage-applying segment and the scraping blade, said spacer being of a thickness selected to enable manual encirclement for enhanced manual gripping of the tool.

4. The tool of claim 2 wherein the scraping blade is replaceably mounted tosaid handle.

5. The tool of claim 1 wherein one of said working edges is formed into a downwardly extending point.

6. The tool of claim 3 wherein the spacer is formed into an l-shape cross-section with upper and lower recesses shaped to receive the leverage-applying segment and the scraping blade respectively.

7. The tool of claim 1 including a handle body molded of plastic material, means on said handle shaped to form said thumb stops, said scraping tool is replaceably mounted to the handle below said thumb stops and said handle body.

8. The tool of claim 3 wherein said spacer body has threaded holes on opposite sides thereof, said segment and blade have respective holes aligned with said threaded holes, and respective threaded fasteners pass through said segment and blade holes and threadedly engage said spacer body to secure said segment and blade to opposite sides of said spacer body. 

1. A tool adapted for manual working of surfaces; comprising: an elongated handle having a first thumb stop extending upwardly from one end of the handle to receive the thumb for application of pressure, a second thumb stop extending upwardly from the other end of the handle, and a scraping blade located below the handle, said scraping blade having a pair of end-located working edges generally located respectively below the thumb stops for enhanced hand-applied working pressure.
 2. The tool of claim 1 wherein said handle includes a leverage-applying segment of thin strong metal strip material, said thumb stops being formed of blunt upwardly curved ends of the metal strip.
 3. The tool of claim 2 wherein the handle further includes a spacer body located between the leverage-applying segment and the scraping blade, said spacer being of a thickness selected to enable manual encirclement for enhanced manual gripping of the tool.
 4. The tool of claim 2 wherein the scraping blade is replaceably mounted to said handle.
 5. The tool of claim 1 wherein one of said working edges is formed into a downwardly extending point.
 6. The tool of claim 3 wherein the spacer is formed into an I-shape cross-section with upper and lower recesses shaped to receive the leverage-applying segment and the scraping blade respectively.
 7. The tool of claim 1 including a handle body molded of plastic material, means on said handle shaped to form said thumb stops, said scraping tool is replaceably mounted to the handle below said thumb stops and said handle body.
 8. The tool of claim 3 wherein said spacer body has threaded holes on opposite sides thereof, said segment and blade have respective holes aligned with said threaded holes, and respective threaded fasteners pass through said segment and blade holes and threadedly engage said spacer body to secure said segment and blade to opposite sides of said spacer body. 